A new project aiming to prevent and tackle knife crime is being piloted in Birmingham city centre.
This work forms part of a national pilot programme which uses data to identify areas with higher levels of knife crime and provides funding to support a targeted approach to address it.
These areas are known as a ‘HEX’ due to their hexagon-like shapes and are roughly the size of 10 football pitches.
The Home Office have provided £250,000 to support this work which will see increased police patrols, knife arches to detect those carrying weapons, better lighting, CCTV and detached youth worker intervention. Teams will be closely working with businesses and communities to understand their concerns and ideas to make these areas safer.
The HEX pilot in Birmingham is being managed through the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership, Birmingham City Council and West Midlands Police.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster said: “Preventing and tackling knife crime is a top priority for me. That requires both robust disruption and enforcement and investment in investment in prevention and early intervention.
“People should be able to attend and enjoy the city centre of Birmingham freely and without fear. With the busy Christmas and New Year’s period coming up, it is of the utmost importance communities and businesses are not only actually safe, but also feel safe.
“The HEX pilot is aiming to ensure the right support is put into place to prevent violence from occurring in the first place and it complements the existing range of activity already in place through our West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership.”
Nerys Thomas, Director at the College of Policing, said: “The consequences of knife-enabled offences are serious and we need innovative, locally grounded, and evidence-based solutions for these complex problems.
“The public want to see police tackling these issues, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. By taking an evidence-based approach, forces will be able to implement and test new initiatives at speed and get a real sense of what works best for their communities to keep them safe.”
Pooja Kanda, knife crime campaigner and mother of Ronan Kanda said: “For too long, our streets have been allowed to become scenes of violence. The government’s HEX initiative represents decisive action—long overdue action.
“When my son was murdered by a 16-year-old carrying a 22-inch ninja sword on the streets in broad daylight, the government responded by banning that weapon, showing strong and timely leadership.
I believe that same determination is now being shown through the HEX patrol hubs, which offer real hope of preventing further tragedies.”
HEX pilots are commencing in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Peterborough, and London.
